If I can burn copies of my friend’s CDs for free, why can’t I download their music for free using a peer-to-peer file sharing service?
Actually, it is illegal for you to burn a copy of a friend’s CD, according to copyright law, although many people wrongfully invoke the Copyright Act’s Fair Use provisions to excuse their stealing. It appears that the only person your friend can copy a CD for is himself – and even then, he is only allowed to make one copy for personal use. Burning extra copies to sell or even to give to friends as gifts is illegal and is no different than sharing music files online. The same is true of DVDs. Again, sharing copyrighted material without paying for it and without receiving permission from the copyright holder is unlawful.
